How much do you view yourself as a motivator?

I student taught and am currently subbing in a very low performing school. Not a lot of support from parents or administration. Students aren't disciplined and have very little interest in school.

As teachers we can only do so much for the variety of students we have. I can provide everything for the student to be successful, but ultimately it is up to them to do the work. I am moving away from thinking that it is my job to motivate students to work. But the way (especially non teachers) many people view teaching is that it is the teacher's job to inspire and cheerlead the material by being a comedian. If I am not entertaining enough, I am a bad teacher.

If I remember correctly, Luke destroyed the Empire from instruction based on high expectations. I am tired of telling a student, "good job, you have completed one problem in 20 minutes." I want to say, "your work is not good enough, try it again, figure it out, work harder." But I feel like their failure is a reflection of me as a teacher, when it is them not putting in the effort.

Is it okay to be content that half of the class is choosing not to work? If a student wants to sit there and fail, I want to let them. How much do you go out of your way to be a motivator? I'm not going to spend the rest of my working life begging teenagers to do something.

I'm not sure what subject you are teaching but I think you should ask your students what do they wish to learn? If you can crack that puzzle and then make your class/lessons centered around their learning goals- you shouldn't have to motivate them to learn.

Since you claim your teaching at a "low performing school" why not have fun with this? Bring in a game that has learning involved (any card game/classic boardgame would do.) You could teach them concepts like: objective (what is the objective of the game) and then apply that to your class (what is your objective in this class). Some students may wish to subvert your goals (to educate them) and you can not only point this out (flag them on it) but also turn it around on them (ask- what is your objective now?/what strategy are you trying to employ on me now?) Use humour and gain their trust so they're not afraid to answer your questions straight up.